Virtual Communities and Social Capital

2000 ◽  
pp. 159-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
A BLANCHARD
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Virtual Communities

A Computational Model of Social Capital in Virtual Communities

2011 ◽  
pp. 318-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben K. Daniel
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Computational Model ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Key Variables

This chapter presents a Bayesian Belief computational model of social capital (SC) developed within the context of virtual communities. The development of the model was based on insights drawn from more than five years of research into social capital in virtual communities. The Chapter discusses the key variables constituting social capital in virtual communities and shows how the model was updated using practical scenarios. The scenarios describe authentic cases drawn from several virtual communities. The key issues predicted by the model as well as challenges encountered in building, verifying and updating the model are discussed.

Virtual Communities and Social Capital Theory

2011 ◽  
pp. 493-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine M. Ridings
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Geographic Area ◽  
Social Capital Theory ◽  
Community Context ◽  
Capital Theory ◽  
Physically Based ◽  
Civic Group

Imagine a neighborhood where young children can play freely in the streets and various backyards without direct parental oversight, the implication being that other adults in the vicinity will watch out for the children. If a parent is late getting home before the school bus, the children know which neighbors’ house to go to and will be well cared for until the parent arrives home. The residents are very willing to help each other, perhaps by moving a sofa down to a basement or lending a ladder for a project. In such a neighborhood, the first place one turns to for recommendations for plumbers, dry cleaners, and preschools, or perhaps to borrow a tool, is each other. Perhaps one person has secured a job for a neighbor’s daughter, and another family has “paved the way” for their neighbor’s entry into a country club. If a person has a need for emotional support to deal with a personal crisis, she turns to a neighbor. Such a neighborhood can be said to have social capital—that resource that comes from relations between people that makes lives more productive and easier. Social capital is not only created from groups of people living in very close proximity, such as in a neighborhood. It might be created between people belonging to the same church or civic group, or perhaps between people who met at a hospital support group for a particular affliction, or people who are alumni of a particular university. These groups of people can be said to constitute communities, or gatherings of people who have common interests or ties. In the past, these communities tended also to be focused in a local geographic area. This article will examine social capital in the context on online communities. Online communities, like physically based communities such as church groups or neighborhoods, can also be said to produce social capital for their members. These virtual communities can create and foster social capital—and indeed, it may be social capital that draws and retains their members. The background of social capital theory will be examined and then applied in the virtual community context.

Effects of social capital on online knowledge sharing: positive and negative perspectives

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 466-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiu-Ping Hsu
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Relationship Continuity ◽  
Complementary Resources

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual model of how both the benefits and risks of social capital influence online knowledge sharing among virtual community members towards enhancing members’ relationship continuity and virtual community reputations. In addition, this study addresses the effects of complementary resources on knowledge sharing. Design/methodology/approach – The structural equation modelling approach was applied to estimate the conceptual model by using survey data from virtual community members. A total of 626 valid questionnaires were collected. Findings – The empirical results showed that most of the research hypotheses were supported. The benefits of social capital and complementary resources have a positive effect on knowledge sharing, thereby strengthening relationship continuity and community reputation. Furthermore, the risk of social capital has a negative effect on knowledge sharing, as expected. Originality/value – A review of the literature reveals a lack of studies focusing on both the positive and negative influences of social capital on online knowledge sharing. This study therefore contributes to a comprehensive perspective for understanding online knowledge sharing in virtual communities.

scholarly journals Social Networks in Transnational and Virtual Communities

10.28945/2722 ◽  
2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Vivian ◽  
Fay Sudweeks
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Social Formation ◽  
Transnational Communities ◽  
Sense Of Identity ◽  
Strong Relationships

There has been extensive research on social networks but little is known about why some communities survive and some disintegrate. This paper provides a framework to explain similarities in many types of communities. In particular, a comparison of transnational communities and virtual communities highlights the efficacy of the framework in explaining how strong relationships within communities are dependent on social formation factors such as a sense of identity, social structures and social capital.

A Computational Model of Social Capital

2009 ◽  
pp. 208-114
Author(s):  
Ben Kei Daniel
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Computational Model ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Key Variables

This Chapter presents the Bayesian Belief computational model of social capital developed within the context of virtual communities discussed in Chapter 7. The development of the model was based on insights drawn from research. The Chapter presents the key variables constituting social capital in virtual communities and shows how the model was created and updated. The scenarios described in the Chapter were authentic cases drawn from several virtual communities. The key issues predicted by the model as well as challenges encountered in building, verifying and updating the model are discussed. The ultimate goal of the Chapter is to share experiences in developing a model of social capital and to encourage the reader to think about how such experiences can be extended to model similar constructs or build more scenarios to update the model. The model presented in the Chapter is a proof-of-a concept and a demonstration of a procedure. Notwithstanding that some of the model’s predictions are accurate while other require more substantial empirical corroboration.

Virtual Communities

2009 ◽  
pp. 122-155
Author(s):  
Ben Kei Daniel
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Learning Communities ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Social Constructivism ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Technological Determinism ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
General Overview

The growth of virtual communities and their continuous impact on social, economic and technological structures of societies has attracted a great deal of interest among researchers, systems designers and policy makers to examine the formation, development, sustainability and utility of these communities. Over the last two decades, the growth in research into virtual communities, though fairly diverse, can be broadly categorized into two dominant perspectives—technological determinism and social constructivism. The basic tenet of the technology determinism research is that technology shapes cultural values, social structure, and knowledge. This Chapter provides a general overview of research on virtual communities. It describes two particular types of virtual communities relevant to the analysis of social capital described in the book; virtual learning communities and distributed communities of practice. The goal of the Chapter is to provide an overall context in which social capital is reported in the book. The Chapter also describes other areas in which virtual communities are currently used. These include education, health care, business, socialization and mediating interaction among people in Diaspora.

Understanding Social Capital Formation for Knowledge Sharing in Virtual Communities

2011 ◽  
pp. 136-155
Author(s):  
Shafiz A. Mohd Yusof
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Social Exchange ◽  
Social Exchange Theory ◽  
Virtual Communities ◽  
Elementary Theory ◽  
Virtual Community ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Future Research Agenda ◽  
The Social

This chapter attempts to explore the possibility of building social capital in virtual community(VC) by first introducing the phenomenon, its problems and context, types of VCs and the significance of knowledge sharing. This chapter then presents the process of social capital from a sociological standpoint where two main theories will be used—the elementary theory of social structure and the social exchange theory as the backbone of the arguments. By integrating both theories, a conceptual framework that includes six antecedents to develop social capital is provided. Subsequently, the propositions are expressed in terms of implications to the sociological approach of VC and some conclusions are made by including some future research agenda.

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